This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning, everyone. And for those of you who have made the drive out to Green Gulch, Thank you for that effort of coming through the storm. Big rains is here. Big winds. Panorama is closed, I heard. 30-foot waves at Ocean Beach. So this is a wonderful winter storm. May all beings be safe. Especially with the wind at Green Gulch, we've lost over the years some trees.

[01:07]

There used to be a tree right out here, big, giant oak tree, old. And during a winter storm, it totally toppled over with this huge root ball that was really huge. It was very sad to lose that tree. And the trees have fallen on people's cars. Anyway, may all beings be safe and your vehicles. So I wanted this morning to bring up a practice that has been very beneficial for me. And I wanted to, for my own sake, review it, re-enliven it for myself, study it again.

[02:11]

And so I'm bringing it here to you and to those of you who are Zooming in. And this practice comes out of the Avatamsaka Sutra. which is the flower ornament scripture that we've, for the past months, we've been studying it for the past year, maybe even, or at least quite a long time. Different groups of people are reciting it, studying it, and then the January intensive, that was the focal point. People have been reading it on their own. And the... that I wanted to bring up comes from book 39 of the Flower Ornament Scripture, which is a huge sutra, a huge scripture, very long, very dense, very asks the inconceivable from us in terms of

[03:27]

understanding and relating to it. You can't relate to it, really. In the usual way that you would with study material. So, before I get to this practice that's brought up in Book 39, I wanted to backtrack a little to... how it was that I wanted to enliven this practice again. And it has to do with what is going on in our world right now, this world of wars of various kinds, the climate changes and disasters and crises that we face, and how, basically the question is, how do we meet this? How do we practice with this? How do we enter the challenges of our life which we cannot get out of, we can't get rid of the challenges, we can't, there's no place to escape, there's no place to go, that somehow we'd be not affected and implicated.

[04:43]

And knowing, you know, just looking at the newspaper or wherever you get your news and seeing photos of suffering beings, often children, and how do we meet that without generating more hatred, anger, thoughts of, retaliation, or indifference as a way of relating to it. How do we relate and stay with what's going on with the mind of practice, with the mind of a bodhisattva? In the ordination ceremony it says, only the mind of a bodhisattva,

[05:48]

can cut through this drifting, wandering life and take a path of peace. So this mind of a bodhisattva is what I want to bring up. We have habit energy, very strong habit energy to relate to what we... hear of and read about and know of with anger, with fear, with all sorts of afflictive emotions that in many ways go nowhere, do nothing to help the situation or to help us or to help those around us. In a special session that I participated in years ago, the Japanese Zen master who was leading the session, Tsugen Roshi.

[07:05]

There's two of them, and I'm not sure which, that have the same first name. Anyway, this wonderful teacher brought up A definition of the mind of a Buddha. What is Buddha's mind? And in Japanese, it's... He, Ji, excuse me. Ji, He, Ki, Sha, Mu, Ryo, Shin. Ji, He, Ki, Sha, Mu, Ryo, Shin. This is a definition of the mind of a Buddha. And I would say the mind of a bodhisattva is practicing to have this mind. And the kind of breakdown of this ji-hi-ki-sham-bu-ri-ho-shen is the word ji is translated as love. Sometimes it's translated as compassion.

[08:10]

And ji-hi, the he, is translated... as compassionate and sometimes love as well. So it's this mind of loving compassion, jihi. The key is joy, joyful mind. And when he taught this, he said it's the mind of joy, the kind of joy you feel when you see a child who is happy and having fun and laughing, this joy, unknowingly, Unhindered joy to see a child in a joyful life. We feel it too. This is sympathetic joy. And there's no, nothing gets in the way like jealousy or envy. No, it's just total joy along with this child who's happy.

[09:15]

Ji, he, he. The sha is the spirit of giving. And the spirit of, like, giving everything. Like, I want to just give it all, leaving nothing behind. Just give it all to beings. Or to another person, that feeling. A spirit of just throwing ourselves into our life with giving. So, ji, he, ki, sha. And then this mu means no. Ryo is measure. So, no measure. Shin is mind, heart. So Ji as love, Ji as this concern and compassionate concern, kind of born of love.

[10:24]

Ji, Ji, Ki, joy, sha, give it away without measure, mind, heart. The heart, mind of love and concern and compassion with joy and giving beyond measure. Ji, Ji, Ki, sha, muriyoshin. the mind of the Buddha. And to me, it's very encouraging to hear that. What kind of being is that? Now, part of, before I get into the 39 of the Avatamsaka Sutra, I wanted to say something about a mind that does not get caught, which I think is part of this mind that I just talked about.

[11:37]

It's not weighing or gauging, it's just throwing with immeasurable, care, concern, compassion, love for beings. That heart, the heart. And in our, maybe even the first day that anybody comes to practice at, at least at San Francisco Zen Center places and has instruction in our practice of meditation, Zazen, sitting meditation, we're given instructions. instructions on how to sit. And in that group of instructions, often the instructions given by whatever teacher is offering them may be based or flow from something that was very old, actually, ancient instructions for meditation and something in particular that

[12:43]

from our own lineage of teaching called the Universal Admonitions for Zazen. And in that set of instructions, it says we should practice suchness without delay. Practice suchness without delay. And part of when we sitch or one of the main ways to practice suchness without delay is do not think good or bad. This is in the instructions. Do not think good or bad. Do not administer pros and cons. Cease gauging. measuring, weighing, this is better than that, that just practice suchness without delay, without adding to it our, how we gauge it, which is according to our own life's experience and our own background, our own education, our own culture, our own gender, our own whatever.

[14:11]

That we gauged things. I like this, I don't like that. This is too much, this is too little. This is good, this is bad. All those gaugings were admonished in the universal admonitions to cease for our Zazen practice. Let go of thinking, good or bad. Pros and cons. that will become some kind of obstacle. Just practice suchness without delay. And what is suchness? There's someone I know who has a family member who's had grave physical difficulties and has been hospitalized. This person practices very hard, and they said they're just practicing each day with the conditions of each day, whatever it is, rather than gauging this is good, this is bad.

[15:28]

That gets in the way. Just be with this person completely. Throw away everything else and just practice closely. with the conditions and accord with those conditions. Do not think good or bad. We don't know. This person doesn't know. And this is a stable, grounded, present mind that I'm sure is helpful for the person who's ill and all the family members and friends. who cares so deeply. This not thinking good and not thinking bad or not thinking evil comes up in a story of one of our ancestors who's actually the founder of this particular way of teaching Buddhism, the Soto School, the teacher has named.

[16:37]

In Japanese, Tozan. And he had a student, his successor actually, who decided to go on a kind of solitary retreat and went to a hermitage not far from the monastery. And this was his successor, Tozan Myokai Dai, Ungodoyo. Ungodoyo, the successor of him. one of the founders of Sotozan. And he would come and get meals from the monastery and go back to a solitary retreat, which, well, I can say more about solitary retreats another time maybe, but anyway. So Sotozan, the head of the monastery, and this person's teacher, realized he hadn't come to the monastery for about, I don't know, 10 days to get food.

[17:42]

So he sent for him, you know, are you okay? What's going on? And Ungodoyo told his teacher, well, I haven't needed to come get food because these sort of spiritual celestial deities are feeding me. And his teacher said, we have been practicing a long time and I can't believe that you're saying that, that you're involved in this kind of practice. So he said, come back tonight, and I'm going to give you an instruction. So Ungodoyo came back that night to see his teacher, and Tozan said to him, do not think good. Do not think evil. What is it? And Unkodoyo went back to his hermitage. And about three days later, he came back and said, they disappeared.

[18:48]

They never came back. And Tozan said, and this is in another teaching, this is a kind of protective, mantra or protective words you can't be found you can't be grabbed you can't be hooked when you're not thinking good and you're not thinking evil and just practicing what practicing suchness without delay who can bind you who can harness you who can grab you That's a very particular story from our lineage, a kind of a teaching story, whether it has a mythic quality to it, celestial beings and so forth.

[19:50]

But to me, it speaks exactly to our instructions for Zazen. By thinking and getting caught in good and evil and weighing in pros and cons, we get caught. by our own habits and go down some path that may lead us away from this mind of concern for beings, compassion and love and joy with beings throwing our lot in with the world with immeasurable Energy. Heart. So, practice suchness without delay brings me to this chapter 39, or book 39 of the Avatamsaka Sutra, which has been viewed as its own sutra, almost.

[21:01]

It's quite long, and it's called the Gandhavyuha. Translated as the array of splendor. It has various translations. But in this chapter, in this book, it's a book about an incredible pilgrimage that someone goes on. And that someone is a baby bodhisattva named Sudhana. And Sudhana is told by the bodhisattva of infinite wisdom, Manju Sri, who's on her altar. and sits in the zendo, Manjushri asks Sudhana to go on this pilgrimage and ask different spiritual friends, spiritual guides, how do you practice the life of a bodhisattva? And because Sudhana wants to be a bodhisattva, however, this practitioner is not clear exactly

[22:06]

you do that? How do you practice being a bodhisattva? So he decides, he's encouraged to go on this pilgrimage, and he sets out, Sudhana does, and meets with over 50, I think it's 53 different spiritual guides, spiritual friends, and they come from all walks of life, different ages, genders, you know, professions, ordained, not ordained, country, city, just the widest variety of beings who are bodhisattvas, which is bodhisattvas come in all shapes and sizes. There's no particular way that a bodhisattva manifests. Bodhisattvas manifest in order to be there and help beings. So whatever is needed That Bodhisattva energy will manifest in that way.

[23:08]

So Sudhana sets out on this long pilgrimage. And one of the Bodhisattva, one of the 53 Bodhisattva that Sudhana meets is Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Now, Avalokiteshvara is the Bodhisattva of infinite compassion. great compassion beyond measure. And Sudhana comes to the island of Pakala, which is an island off of the Chinese coast, which I visited, which is said to be the birthplace of the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion. This is part of the teaching legends and myths and stories. And when you arrive at, in Chinese, it's Pushan, there's this huge statue of Avalokiteshvara in female form, guanyin in Chinese.

[24:21]

That's just huge. I don't know how many feet, how many meters. And people are bowing and... circumambulating, and underneath the statue, there's this huge room, bigger than this, where you circumambulate from underneath the statues above you, and you're under, there's altars there, people are bowing, people are circumambulating with doing full prostration, so taking a step, bowing, getting up, bowing, and going around. The bodhisattva of infinite compassion, underneath, as well as And there's many other temples on the island. So Sudhana arrives there and sees Avalokiteshvara in male form in this story, sitting on this diamond boulder by the water, surrounded by beings who are listening to teachings.

[25:24]

And Avalokiteshvara sees Sudhana. who's come, and Avalokiteshvara speaks first. And this is a bodhisattva practice, by the way. The bodhisattva speaks first. You engage. You make a friendly offering. You say hello. This is practice... That comes up in different sutras. Shantideva's Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life. The Bodhisattva speaks first. So you can practice that when you're thinking, why isn't anybody talking to me at the dinner table? You can be a Bodhisattva and try out speaking first. So Avalokiteshvara says, welcome.

[26:26]

and welcome you who have set out on the incomparable, lofty, inconceivable great vehicle that's the Mahayana, intending to save all beings who are oppressed by various firmly rooted miseries and have no refuge. Avalokiteshvara is saying to Sudhana, naming, and saying, I see you. I see you. Welcome. You've come to relieve the suffering and misery of beings in this world. And you're seeking to directly experience Buddha's way and Buddha's teachings, which are incomparable and immeasurable. This is part of the Havatam Saka Sutra, the inconceivability, incomparable teachings, vast.

[27:33]

And Avalokiteshvara goes on to Sudhana, saying wonderful things. You're filled with the energy of great compassion. You're determined to liberate sentient beings. You know, welcome, welcome. So then, There's more that Avalokiteshvara says when this Bodhisattva sees Sudhana. So Sudhana then goes forward, pays respects, which is probably bowing. It doesn't say bowing, but I think pays respects, bowing, acknowledging this great teacher and Bodhisattva, and then says, Noble One, I have set my mind on supreme, perfect enlightenment. But I do not know how to learn and carry out the practice of enlightening beings. That's a bodhisattva. That's translation of bodhisattva. Sattva beings, bodhi awakening or enlightened.

[28:38]

So Sudhana is a wonderful, wonderful practitioner and also quite humble and grounded. I come to you because I don't know how to carry out these teachings. And I'm coming and asking for help. I hear you give enlightening beings instructions, and I ask you to tell me how to carry out the practice of enlightening beings. So this is their opening exchange. And then Avalokiteshvara tells Sudhana what their practice is. And I'll just read from the sutra. It is good that you aspire to supreme enlightenment. I know a way of enlightening practice called, and this is the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion's practice, undertaking great compassion without delay.

[29:44]

That is the practice of the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion. What is it? Practicing infinite compassion without delay. Undertaking great compassion without delay. Now. And then there's commentary about what this practice is. Undertaking great compassion without delay, which sets about impartially guiding all sentient beings to perfection. Dedicating to protecting and guiding sentient beings by communicating knowledge to them through all media. I'm going to not read the whole line by line.

[30:49]

Undertaking great compassion without delay. I appear in the midst of the activities of sentient beings without leaving the presence of the Buddha. So part of this practice is I go where beings are. I meet them where they are. I travel in places where sentient beings are in the midst of their activities. And I take care of them by four things. This particular next section, I just wanted to say something about. Avalokiteshvara says, I go and I spend time with beings in the midst of their lives, and then this next line has been taken by other teachers and delved into. And this is what Avalokiteshvara says. I take care of them by means of generosity, kind speech, beneficial action, and this says cooperation.

[32:03]

Another translation is identity action. So the bodhisattva of infinite compassion, practicing great compassion without delay, which is their main practice, goes and spends, goes to beings who are suffering in whatever state they're in and practices generosity, kind speech, beneficial action, and cooperation or identity action. And there's a whole chapter on those four methods of guidance, those four ways of being with sentient beings that the founder of this school in Japan, Dogen Zenji from 1200s, takes up and has a whole chapter about that in his masterwork.

[33:07]

But it flows from, that's from the 1200s, it comes from this Avatamsaka Sutra teaching of the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion, which was written In the first and second century common era, so, you know, a thousand years before Dogen, this was written. And he takes those four very important practices of compassionate practice, infinite compassion, and enlarges upon them. And the other thing or one of the other things that the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion tells Sudhana is I also develop sentient beings by appearing in various forms.

[34:14]

I gladden and develop them by purity of vision. I take care of them by speaking to them. to their mentalities and by showing conduct according to their inclinations and as appearing to them with their own speech their own ethnicity their own I accord with who they are that's how I appear to help them so takes any form in order to help beings. It's not this energy of infinite compassion isn't stuck in a particular form.

[35:20]

It should look this way. It should look that way. Oh, that's not compassion. It's inconceivable. It takes any form that's helpful. Now, check the time here if my clock is going to work. Yeah. So Sudhana listens to this. There's more. There's more teachings. But I feel like those are very core teachings to what. Avalokiteshvara has to tell Sudhana. And then at the end, he said, this is not the whole truth of how you practice the Bodhisattva's way. He's very humble, you know, rather than, I've got the answer here. This is the end all and the be all.

[36:22]

Avalokiteshvara says, this is not the whole truth. This is how I practice. Why don't you go and talk with another spiritual friend and sends... on to the next guide, who will bring up some other aspect of this many-fascicled, never-to-get-to-the-end-of-it practice of a bodhisattva. Now this, the power of, there's a verse here that's very similar to the chapter in the Lotus Sutra about infinite compassion, where Avalokiteshvara says, one of the things that I have offered is that if you call my name, I will actively come to help. So the Guanyin or Avalokiteshvara, one translation of that is the one who hears the cries of the world.

[37:24]

So when we call out for compassion, when we call to ourselves to generate, and bring up compassion. This has a protective quality for those around us, for ourself. And in the situation where we feel anger and ill will and even hatred, which are all proscribed, you know, the greed, hate, and delusion are the three poisons. However, we have this energy that comes up when we read about something, when we hear about something, when we know things, see things. This fire of energy comes up that could very well fall into or become harmful in and of itself, even though it comes up.

[38:28]

in the face of harm, and we don't want to do harm, still the power of this kind of energy can become something harmful. And in looking at anger and studying it, and studying along with compassion, I want to propose that the power of compassion far outweighs the power of anger. There is energy in anger. It's like fire. However, taking that fiery anger which can hurt and can also that energy of fire can also be useful and when we think of compassion i think part of the difficulty is we often think of compassion in not a wide and deep enough way we might think of it more as well that being nice to everybody or

[39:58]

you know, not hurting someone's feelings or, I don't know, in more of a sentimental way, which is not great compassion. This is not the compassion of this Avatamsaka Sutra and this compassion that has the power to protect and to change the world and to relieve suffering. And to remove fear. It is not a sentimental being nice. It's a power that we may not give it as much credit as is due. So the power of compassion is born of wisdom. Or it's the heart of wisdom. Whereas anger is more associated with delusion and ignorance and therefore can go the wrong way and go in a way that can be more confusing or make more harm.

[41:13]

But turning that fire into the energy of compassion, the fire of great compassion and infinite compassion where we... through wisdom, see that all beings are not separate from us, where we want to remove their suffering. This is part of Bodhisattva's vows, where we see that the actions, cruel and harmful actions, come from suffering and delusion and ignorance. We meet that with... the fullness of the Bodhisattva way and the Buddha Dharma. With this mind of concern, passion, and love that wants to take joy in the lives of beings and give everything.

[42:15]

So this is the compassion that meets, this is the practice I feel that can meet the tremendous challenges that we have in this world and will have. So I think the kitchen is going. Back to the kitchen, thank you very much. And let's see, is there anything else? Yeah, I think maybe that's... what I wanted to bring up practicing infinite compassion without delay and calling upon infinite compassion calling for ourselves to it's not bodhisattva of infinite compassion is not sort of floating out in the heavenly realms or something the bodhisattva of infinite compassion is sitting

[43:52]

right here is in your heart. We talk about bodhisattvas and personify them like we have a beautiful Avalokiteshvara at the back of our altar here. And this Tara Buddha behind me seated is the female expression of an awakened one that is particularly Fast acting, this Tara Buddha. And calling upon Tara Buddha when we need help. And also this statue, Jizo, the standing one. So there's this Bodhisattva Jizo. Goes into the hell realms. And is carrying this stick with these jingles on the end of the stick, if you can see it. To... Make sure that the insects and animals know that Jesus is coming and walking to get out of the way.

[44:56]

I wish, you know, during this rain we had hundreds, thousands maybe of newts that are out and about in the morning. They're out and about all the time and they're dark around with a kind of orangey tinge. And it's very hard to see them. I haven't stepped on one this year. I did last year, and it was unpleasant sensation due to not wishing to harm and just not being able to see it. So now I'm carrying a big flashlight. This is the thought of stepping. So Jesus carries this staff to warn the insects. This is a compassionate walking. So we have these personifications, many different ones of compassion, how one lives out compassionate vows.

[45:57]

But the bodhisattvas are not sort of apart from us floating around. It's our own energy that we want awakened, awakened of infinite compassion, born of wisdom, and practiced through. generosity, kind speech, beneficial action. These are an identity action or cooperating with beings. These are ways to live it out forever. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

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